1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for a vacuum and oil pressure based system for detection of vehicle acceleration, deceleration and light signaling system to warn drivers that the vehicle ahead of them will slow down or speed up.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rear ending accidents are the most prevalent types of automotive accidents. The method of the present invention differs from that of all prior art radar based warning devices in that it is totally free from interference caused by other vehicles. The problem with prior art warning devices is interference due to the signals bouncing off oncoming vehicles or passing vehicles that pull ahead. The previous prior art vehicle warning devices have not been widely accepted because of the excessive complexity or their design and the resultant cost of manufacturing. In addition, most prior art systems do not perform as claimed.
The known prior art advocates the use of pendulums, mercury switches or radar or laser beams or sonar to achieve hopeful results. They have real disadvantages not to mention very large costs. Pendulums are only brought into play by the initial inertia of starting and stopping. They are not constant. Many prior art devices are nightmares to produce based on engineering complexity and production costs. These and other systems are subject to wear and tear and failure due to swiveling housings, linkages, hinges, swinging contact points, sliding contact points and oxidation. Recently are all kinds of technology of dubious value such as bells, whistles, vibrators and decelerators have been introduced which are mostly worthless in stop-and-go freeway traffic.
This present inventor applicant does not favor radar because the signal fans out and false alarms result. Recent tests on a Land Rover LR3 (Wall Street Journal Nov. 19, 2004) stated “Beeping alerts were more annoying than helpful,” especially going around curves or those vehicles that are passing on the left or right side. Distance detectors are useless in heavy stop-and-go traffic and would be very annoying. With the use of laser beams, there is the danger of a laser hitting the eyes of either a driver or a pedestrian on the sidewalk. Alarms, whistles, internal cabin warning buzzers and lights are truly irritating. People would pay to have them disconnected. Screens on vehicle dashboards are more dangerous than the use of cell phones because they encourage drivers to take their eyes off the road.
Research has shown that pedestrians as a percentage of all traffic fatalities are as follows: New York=28.3%, Miami=22.8%, San Diego=22.5%, San Francisco=21.7%, Los Angeles=21.3%. In the prior art, highly complex patents require road crossings and intersections to be wired with signals in order to indicate the status of the crosswalk and traffic light in order for a vehicle to respond to the light and initiate an automatic braking sequence. The implementation of such a system is unlikely due to economic reasons. Therefore, there is a need for an alerting device that can alert a pedestrian of the intention of a driver in an oncoming vehicle.
The current invention system is far superior to systems that only alert a driver who is about to be rear ended because flashing a vehicle's brake lights at a vehicle that is following too closely will only cause the driver of the vehicle to slam on his brakes and be rear ended by the following vehicle, possibly starting a chain reaction with all of the other vehicles in front of the following vehicles. It might be desirable to only have one color displayed and the inventor suggests amber which is an alerting color. These lights might also be placed on rear protruding tail pipes.